{"id":109113,"date":"2025-10-30T16:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T16:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/109113\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T16:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T16:16:07","slug":"dave-mustaine-talks-re-recording-metallicas-ride-the-lightning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/109113\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Mustaine Talks Re-Recording Metallica’s \u2018Ride the Lightning\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDave Mustaine<\/a> is readying his final Megadeth album<\/a>, aptly titled Megadeth<\/a>. More than 40 years since Mustaine founded the band, he views the album \u2013 coming after 13 Grammy nominations, a win for Best Metal<\/a> Performance and 17 albums \u2013 as a fitting coda to the vaunted thrash pioneers\u2019 run. As part of the album, Mustaine confirms to Rolling Stone the rumors that he re-recorded his version of \u201cRide the Lightning,\u201d the title song of Metallica<\/a>\u2019s 1984 album for which he got a co-writing credit following his 1983 departure from the band.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt wasn\u2019t really that I wanted to do my version,\u201d he tells Rolling Stone. \u201cI think that we all wanted it to turn out a certain way, and for me, this was about something so much more than how a song turns out. It was about respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat respect, he says, is for Metallica singer-guitarist James Hetfield. \u201cNo one ever talks to me about that,\u201d he says of Hetfield\u2019s prowess. \u201cOne day he\u2019s a singer, the next day he\u2019s this fucking powerhouse and I\u2019ve always respected him as a guitar player.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo I wanted to do something to close the circle on my career right now, since it started off with [Mustaine\u2019s band before Metallica] Panic and several of the songs that ended up in the Metallica repertoire, I wanted to do something that I felt would be a good song,\u201d he explains of choosing to include his rendition of \u201cRide the Lightning\u201d for Megadeth\u2019s farewell album.<\/p>\n

\n\tMetallica developed the song, using some of Mustaine\u2019s guitar riffs, into a hair-raising narrative about a wrongfully convicted man awaiting execution. The title \u201cride the lightning,\u201d a euphemism for dying by electric chair, came from Stephen King\u2019s The Stand. Their recording was a kinetic thrashathon with machine-gun-fast guitar notes and solos and Hetfield\u2019s convincing screams for mercy. Megadeth\u2019s recording is a little faster and a little deeper, since it\u2019s in a lower key, and Mustaine snarls the lyrics more than Hetfield but the guitar playing sounds just as muscular.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tThe band did not set out to record the song for the new album; rather, its genesis stemmed from them playing it in the studio one day. \u201cOur intentions were pure,\u201d Mustaine says. \u201cI didn\u2019t have any reason I was going to say, \u2018Oh, hey man, this thing that we\u2019ve had for 40 years where you guys will never tour with me, me doing the song is going to change things.\u2019 That wasn\u2019t it at all. It was more about: This is my life going forward. I want to do things that are respectable. And I think doing something where we can pay honor to the guy that \u2026 I mean, I hate to say this, because it\u2019s just so fucking arrogant, but the guitar playing in Metallica changed the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 10-track album, which features the previously released first single \u201cTipping Point\u201d is set for release on January 23. The band will announce a series of farewell tour dates later this year.<\/p>\n

\n\tMustaine says Megadeth have no plans to play the song live, adding that neither Hetfield nor Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich heard about the rerecording\u2019s existence ahead of time. \u201cIt was not for lack of having the thought or the courage or anything like that. I know the last time James and I talked, we were talking about some business stuff and I haven\u2019t spoken to him since,\u201d Mustaine says. \u201cSo I was hoping that we could get his approval on this before we release the track. But when it turned out the way that it did, I think there were so many people that were happy that we did this, that we just went for it. And I\u2019ll be more than happy to talk to him when I get the opportunity, but I don\u2019t have his number anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the two may have lost touch, Mustaine welcomes the possibility of him and Hetfield speaking again. \u201cI also know that time takes time to heal wounds and I don\u2019t know if we still have that kind of relationship anymore,\u201d he adds. \u201cI know I would like to hang out and listen to new music and goof off and do shit like that, but maybe we\u2019re all too old. I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tThough he hopes it might open a window to their conversing again, Mustaine makes it clear that this song is not about renewing old friendships. \u201cI think the whole purpose of this was not to try and rekindle relationships or anything. It was about showing respect to a man that\u2026 I don\u2019t believe he thinks I respect him and I wanted to make that clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI wanted to pay tribute to the band,\u201d he adds. \u201cAnd just now that I\u2019m getting ready to hang my guitar up, I wanted to make sure that nothing is left unsaid.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dave Mustaine is readying his final Megadeth album, aptly titled Megadeth. More than 40 years since Mustaine founded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[78427,156,78428,1614,4938,157,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-109113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-dave-mustaine","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-megadeth","11":"tag-metal","12":"tag-metallica","13":"tag-music","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}